Despite the warnings of serious consequences (injuries and fatalities) and mandatory legislation, many pregnant women continue to avoid the use of seat belts. Others impair the function of a belt by providing excessive slack. Pregnant women are adverse to wearing seat belts because of a fear of injuring their fetuses and the rubbing of a belt against a tender abdomen. A failure to “buckle up” can result in an ejection from a vehicle or an impact of an unrestrained occupant with a vehicle interior. Moreover, air bags are intended to work with belts. A failure to “buckle up” can render an air bag ineffective. It may also result in sanctions such as monetary fines from violations of vehicle laws. There is no evidence that a restraint system belt increases the risk of injury to a pregnant woman or her fetus.
A University of Michigan accident study found that unrestrained or improperly restrained pregnant women are 5.7 times more likely to have an adverse fetal outcome than properly restrained pregnant women. In a 1990 to 1999 study conducted in Massachusetts, one-quarter of the pregnancy associated mortality rate was due to vehicle collisions. In a study of pregnant women in 1980 through 1988, motor vehicle collisions by the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center of Seattle, Wash., unrestrained pregnant women were 1.9 more likely to have low birth weight babies and 2.3 times more likely to give birth within 48 hours after motor vehicle crashes.
In a 2003 report in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, unbelted pregnant women were nearly three times more likely to lose fetuses and twice as likely to have excessive maternal bleeding than pregnant women wearing seat belts. Similar results were obtained in a study of pregnant women in vehicle accidents in Utah, reported in the Mar. 1, 2004 Journal of the American Family Physician. In 2002, there were U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,280 births in the United States, down slightly from 2002 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,933). Assuming that the majority of the women giving birth were drivers, it is safe to say that large numbers of pregnant women were at risk because of a failure to “buckle up” or improper use (excessive slack) of safety belts.
In a vehicle accident, properly worn safety belts can prevent a pregnant woman from impacting a steering wheel, a windshield or instrument panel. It will also allow her to benefit from the deceleration forces of a collapsing vehicle.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,467, a restraint system shield for pregnant women is disclosed consisting of soft resilient pads attached to lap and shoulder belts. The object of these pads is to prevent the rubbing of restraint system belts on sensitive body areas, such as the abdomens of pregnant women. The soft resilient cushions of my U.S. patent could be important in reducing pregnancy related vehicle injuries and fatalities by persuading pregnant women to “buckle up”.